How much should one charge?

Just for curiosity sake im wondering your thoughts on what I should have charged to format and reinstall everything on my friends computer. Not to mention it is a compaq, I added a few extra programs she needed and did a few other things it took me 5 1/2 hrs. I seem to come across this a lot, people have come to think of me as this computer tech guy, although I have no formal training I do know a lot now and can do almost anything any thoughts?

i generally charge nothing for friends and family, 50 bucks for crapware cleanouts, and general troubleshooting and full formats and reinstalls is $50/hr. I have image files that makes most things go really fast.

*edit- and for systems i have built people, i include 3 months full support. generally on those it is usually a crapware cleanout every few months.

i usually just tell them "whatever it's worth to you" if they want to pay me. i've never run into any problems doing that especially since i know most of the people i do work for, and would do it for free.

My rate varies with how many serial numbers and credit card numbers I can lift off the system. I of course tell people this ahead of time. For some reason nobody asks me to work on their systems anymore....

wolfshade,
Establish your prices by the local competions prices and adjust it by your overhead and what profit you think won't push your prices to high. Keep your costs and overhead as low as the market allows you. And then buy new toys. Granted, there are a few more things but I hardly now you. te he he It has worked for me for 25 years. 8) frogg_mann

CompUSA – $99.97 (reformat reinstall) their solution for most problems

Geeks on Call - $99 to show up and if it can be fixed in 15 minutes or less, if it takes longer than 15 minutes it will range from $145-275 ($275 if they take your pc to their office and reformat and reinstall Windows).